This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-338213, filed on Nov. 6, 2000; the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bank note processing apparatus into which bank notes in plural kinds are inlaid through an insert port in a lump, the inserted bank notes are taken out of this insert port, front and back are uniformly arranged, classified by kind and stacked, and the stacked bank notes in specific kind are banded prescribed number of sheets by a paper strip, and a bank note processing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional bank note processing apparatus, plural kinds of bank notes are inserted into an insert port in the mixed state with the front/back and the top/bottom not arranged uniformly, and the inserted bank notes are taken out on a conveying path one by one. Such features of bank notes conveyed as kind, front/back, top/bottom, etc. are detected and based on the result of this detection, the front/back of the bank notes are selectively reversed, and all reversed bank notes are sorted and stacked in prescribed stackers prepared for every kind of bank notes in the state with the front laid upward.
In particular, as a bank note processing apparatus having a function to band bank notes in specific kind with a paper strip, the bank note processing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Disclosure (Kokai) No. 5-6478 is well known.
This bank note processing apparatus is equipped with two stackers for stacking bank notes in specific kind, and bank notes inserted with the front laid upward and the top laid ahead are stacked in one of the stackers and those bank notes inserted with the front laid upward and the bottom ahead are stacked in the other stacker. That is, the front/back and the top/bottom are arranged uniformly in respective stackers and then, the bank notes are banded with a paper strip in a banding portion provided corresponding to each stacker. At this time, bank notes in prescribed number of sheets are banded by winding a paper strip round them at a position one-sided to one of the longitudinal directions of the bank notes stacked.
However, in the above-mentioned conventional bank note processing apparatus, for example, bank notes stacked in each stacker are wound round with a paper strip at a position one-sided to the rear side of the apparatus and therefore, the top/bottom of bank notes stacked in one stacker and those of bank notes stacked in the other stacker are in the reversed state and the winding positions of both bundles of bank notes become different. Thus, when the winding positions of the paper strips differ, there is caused such a defect that, for example, a paper strip conceals figures and letters shown on bank notes.
Therefore, it is considered a method for winding a paper strip round a bundle of bank notes at the same position by arranging one of the banding devices provided to each stacker at the front side and the other banding device at the rear side. However, in order to adopt such a structure, there is such a problem that cost increases as it becomes necessary to provide banding devices in two different structures.
An object of the present invention is to provide a bank note processing apparatus and a bank note processing method capable of arranging the front/back and the top/bottom of all bank notes and banding them at the same position without changing the structure of the apparatus.
According to the embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a bank note processing apparatus comprising an insert port into which plural sheets of rectangular shaped bank notes having the front/back and top/bottom extending along the longitudinal direction are inserted collectively; a take-out portion which takes the bank notes inserted into the insert port one by one with the top or bottom laid ahead; a conveying path which conveys the bank notes taken out of the take-out portion with the top or bottom laid ahead; a detector which detects information relative to the front/back and top/bottom of the bank notes being conveyed on the conveying path; a front/back reversing portion which selectively reverses the front/back of the bank notes being conveyed on the conveying path based on the result of detection by the detector; first and second stackers which stack the bank notes of which front/back were selectively reversed in the front/back reversing portion; a sorting portion which sorts the bank notes being conveyed into the first or the second stacker based on the result of detection by the detector; first and second banding portions which band the bank notes stacked in the first and the second stackers for a prescribe number of sheets at the same position one-sided to their longitudinal direction; and a controller which controls the front/back reversing portion and the sorting portion so as to stack the bank notes in one of the first and second stackers in the state with the front/back and top/bottom arranged uniformly and the front turned upward and in the other stacker with the front/back arranged uniformly and the back turned upward.
Further, according to the embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a bank note processing method comprising inserting plural sheets of rectangular shaped bank notes having the front/back and top/bottom extending along the longitudinal direction of them in a lump; taking out the inserted bank notes with the top or bottom laid ahead one by one; conveying the taken-out bank notes on a prescribed conveying path with the top or bottom laid ahead; detecting information relative to the front/back and top/bottom of the bank notes being conveyed; selectively reversing the front/back of the bank notes being conveyed on the conveying path based on the detected result; sorting the front/back reversed bank notes for either the first or second stacker based on the detected result; banding the bank notes stacked in the first and second stackers for every prescribed number of sheets at the same position one-sided to one of the longitudinal directions of the notes; and controlling the front/back and top/bottom reversing step and the sorting step so as to stack bank notes in the state of the front/back and top/bottom uniformly arranged and the front laid upward in one of the first and second stackers and bank notes in the state of the front/back and top/bottom uniformly arranged and the back laid upward in the other first and second stackers.